Case Study

Summary

The Green Codes Task Force (GCTF) is the most comprehensive effort of any U.S. city government to green local construction codes and regulations that impact buildings. 111 recommendations were produced to bring the most cost-effective green building benefits to all buildings.

What is it?

To green New York City’s buildings through codes, the City explored Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) requirements for new construction, but found that LEED® was designed as tool that promoted innovation, not necessarily regulation. Therefore, the City decided to turn to its extraordinary design and real estate community for suggestions. In July 2008, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn asked the New York chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (Urban Green Council) to convene a task force of more than 200 experts to recommend changes within any of the City’s codes and regulations to make buildings more sustainable.

GCTF developed 111 proposals that address the wide array of building impacts, such as water consumption, landscape practices, toxicity of materials, building resilience, occupants’ physical activity and energy efficiency. Two years after the proposals were introduced, many have already been incorporated into City law or practice, while others are in the process of being crafted into workable laws.

How does it work?

GCTF was structured and assembled by Urban Green Council and the New York City Mayor’s Office in 2008. Over 200 individuals from diverse backgrounds, expertise, and sectors were divided into nine technical committees that researched existing problems and generated ideas. A steering committee was created to oversee the process and an industry advisory committee included stakeholders to provide valuable feedback on the proposals. These committees met regularly (roughly 70 times) in the course of three months, brainstorming improvements to the codes, and benchmarking regulations from other local, national, and international codes. Ideas were narrowed down and developed into proposals, which were reviewed by the steering and industry advisory committees.

The proposals went under an additional 10 month refinement process, receiving numerous edits in addition to supporting information such as length of payback cost analysis. During this period, major themes emerged among the 111 recommendations, which resulted with the recommendations organized into ten categories in the final report:

Next steps

New York City is continuing to move toward the goal of implementing all 111 recommendations. For 2012, the New York City Mayor’s Office has prioritized 26 to pursue implementation in 2012. Many are of these are being drafted into legislation to be passed by New York City Council. These range from limiting the amount of Portland cement in certain concrete mixes (which will significantly reduce carbon emissions from concrete production), to reducing heat loss and air leakage in exterior walls.

Other benefits

Local laws enacted from the Green Codes proposals will result in 10 percent lower energy costs due to more efficient lighting.

New plumbing standards will save the equivalent of 30 Central Park Reservoirs every year (30 billion gallons, or 113.6 billion liters).

800 city blocks’ worth of carpeting will be required to pass strict standards for toxic emissions.

2,100 architects and engineers have been trained to follow the most up to date energy code

100,000 tons (90.7 million kg) of asphalt will be diverted from landfills every year.

15 million gallons of rinse water from concrete mixer trucks will be treated every year.